I'm much happier in my quiet little dorm with my "useless" English major than she is being all "successful." HAH! Take that, naysayers!

#42. I agree whole-heartedly. Transgenderism and other medical/reconstructive procedures (like post-accident, harelip, whatever) have great psychological and emotional support groups. Why can't people who want plastic surgery go to group therapy and discuss WHY they want it, then see if it, coupled with therapy, could really help them?
I'm not against the surgeries themselves, just the "why" behind it. If you don't like yourself, getting big tits or a new nose isn't going to help.

And just for the record, I hate liposuction and tummy tucks and stomach stapling. Why don't people realize that if they just ate the same amount, but in healthy foods, did cardio, and lifted weights, they really CAN look like Halle Barry? That's what all those starlets do! They LIFT WEIGHTS. It's not going to make you huge and "gross," but it will require work. Which I guess what these people don't WANT to do. They throw money at a problem you can't fix on the outside.

WTF. This seems so out of sync with how Oregon (well, let's be honest, PORTLAND) would rule. So...weird. I'm definitely gonna contact someone about this.

I remember watching similar filmstrips as a little girl in Catholic grade school in the early '90s. I was always really horrified at the anthropomorphic phenomena, like the rain and clouds. I apparently was the only child who actually watched the Discovery Channel, because our "science" books (even adjusting for being 5-10 year olds) was woefully thin and condescending.

And I hated the boop. Just to be contrary, I guess.

@25: I imagine it's the idea that a man can talk to his wife THAT WAY (being a jerk, there's a big difference between saying "I don't like this coffee, could we try another brand?" and what HE said), that the ad assumed the woman would be making the coffee, and just the general gender roles. It IS from the 1950s, though. Anything from the first half of the last century was pretty much automatically racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally Not Nice. All that happy reminiscing is mostly rose colored rearview mirrors.

#52: It's stories like these that remind that, while a wonderful place, Portland's airport is still run by the feds, and thus totally sucks (though not nearly as bad as larger airports).

Is it more noble to save a child from Malawi or China than it is to save a child from the Bronx or starving Appalachia? If you cannot rear, or choose not to rear, your own biological children, improve your own culture's quality of life for a few desperate children, without disrupting another culture's children.

Once all children in the US have happy, non-abusive families and homes (and the foster/adoption system in this country doesn't suck royally), then I will be right beside you advocating the adoption of foreign children--until then, I find it cruel to split up extended families, no matter how destitute, when you could be championing the improvement of those people's lives through aid that DOESN'T cripple the local economy, and human rights campaigns.

That is quite beautiful--especially since it's all from scratch (except the bulbs, I imagine)! I wonder how much light it produces...

"He taught every angel...to rearrange the vote..."

Well, hopefully it WOULD take a miracle (and a lot of that hanging chad nonsense) for another eight years of this kind of presidency. Right? Right?

Oh God. The bile's certainly rising.

@ #33 Probably not that far off, RJ. That's the really sad thing. We act like suicide is a terrible thing, but really I don't see how it is. Yes, it's selfish when people are trying to help you, but I feel like the more years you live, the more right you have to decide how long you have left.

I'm all for FAITH, but organized religion always smacks of bigotry and hatred, regardless of who it's from--hell, every religion in the world sans modern pagan reimaginings are rife with bigotry. How can a good person be happily religious but also be socially liberal?

You just can't have that kind of doublethink--either you believe that the Bible is dead wrong about slavery, gays, women's lib, et al. or it's absolutely right. This "interpretation" stuff is all right and good, but the people who are vehemently Evangelical ARE the ones who are the most accurate--most religions are just hateful from my perspective.

Damnit! They took my idea! We need to see a troupe like this here in Portland. Some of us would probably join right in--I know I'd at least try.

@8: Che Guevara on a Tshirt is more ridiculous than HST design sneakers. HST was not a political idealist whose own belief system would have caused him to vomit at the thought of his visage selling Tshirts to people ignorant to his cause. HST liked to take drugs and write creative non-fiction, and often he had something to say about a country he loved, but often felt pissed-off at.

He was a writer, doing something he loved, but he wasn't a saint--it's not inappropriate in the way Che shirts are. The Gonzo symbol is damn snazzy--it would look pretty damn sweet on a pair of Chucks, and since I wear them often anyway, and so did he, it's sort of odd to care. I mean, if you're pulling the "he's dead" factor, so is Jesus, but I see his image on damn near everything. Death doesn't matter except to the living.

@10: Great idea--but is this plastic non-pourous? Otherwise, it's pointless. Also, how fast would the seal close back up? Wouldn't bet my reproductive system on this tech yet. Fascinating idea, though.

I was thinking O rings and protective skins for machinery and maybe break pads or something. Of course, I have to wonder--is this biodegradable? That would really make it's self-repairing debatable if it degrades quickly.

Just fascinating.

The majority of Muslim women that choose to veil (even in the Middle East and Muslim parts of Asia) there are places where women can choose to wear any number of garments--most wear an abaya with a niqab, which is not at all restrictive to the wearer's vision (and often very elegant), which is the issue with some burkas. Burkas are a whole 'nother bit of clothing.

As #12 said: Please, don't get in a tizzy over veiling being restrictive or misogynistic--I know plenty Muslim-American feminists that CHOOSE to veil as a statement against the "male gaze," so I think veiling can be very feminist. This, however, is something altogether and I'm not sure what to think of it. Rather clever!

Because just talking to your spouse/partner and working out your problems like mature adults just isn't as fun? Why don't people communicate their displeasure anymore?

I vote Fragile Things or Smoke & Mirrors. I can't decide between the two! Fragile Things is great all over, but Smoke & Mirrors really has some amazing things, too. I own FT though, so maybe SM. Short story anthologies don't sell well because people expect novels nowadays. Short stories don't appeal for some reason, so I think it would be a good idea for them to offer up something more accessible than his longer works, though American Gods IS great (and in first place).

I never cheated. I don't see the point--it takes less effort to study for 30 minutes than to take the time to figure out how to cheat. If you're so messed up in the head that you won't study, but you'll waste time learning how to cheat (which takes much more time and energy, trust me), you honestly the worst sort of human being.

I never actually studied more than 15 minutes, either. I took notes and did the homework, and that was enough. If I got a bad grade, it was because I blanked. If I got a stellar grade, I knew it was because I had learned the information better than most of the other students. I've only ever gotten two F grades in my life--both in algebra. I just cannot do math, and I've accepted that.

@16: And thus I'm convinced that some conservatives get off on the idea of their kids having awkward, unhappy, creepy sex the rest of their lives. You'd think they'd realize that encouraging masturbating will curb sudden, guilt-ridden sex without sex-education that leads to teen pregnancy.

Hurr.

Awesome. I used to love doing this in my spare time during class. >__>;

@22 It's an ad before the video starts. They need to pay for the bandwidth somehow! An ad for what, I don't know, but just keep watching with the sound off.

@28 You don't know how much he donates a year, and neither do I. Just because someone has money doesn't mean they don't give back copiously. Obviously, Penn is a better raconteur due to his visibility, than if he was just a nerd teaching political science at some community college.

Penn Jillette was a busker on the street before the duo got big and Teller has more than a few degrees and was a high school teacher (I think...history?) at one time. Obviously, they've worked hard to get where they are. If they give back, great! They entertain and maybe even make some people think.

If not...well, being magicians is not the worst they could do.

This is absolutely fascinating, and I'm sure that, with a little work, they could easily adapt this to humans, despite the risk.

@7 I don't think pack animals tend to get rabies because they push out sick animals often to keep the rest of the pack healthy. Mostly it's just wild rodents have rabies, as well as raccoons and bats. I honestly have never encountered a rabid pet in my life, but then again, it's possible.

Oh, and I think I'd trust Harvard Medical over some high school biology teacher, because in many schools (especially private ones), you really don't need stunning credentials to teach.

@8 Yeah, and let's get rid of flu and TB shots while we're at it! Because if you remember correctly from your history classes, influenza and tuberculosis used to be big killers, too. Science should never devise long shots to save lives, right? It's obviously waaay too dangerous to cut open a woman's uterus and pull a kid out, right? She could BLEED to death!

@5 You get 0/10 trolling. Such childishness should really be below you.

I can't help it. I've always found him hysterical, but this is even better than Bullshit!.

Also, if you want something fascinating to read, go to the Penn & Teller website and read the section called Teller Speaks. He's an extremely educated, bewitching writer.

This is why I don't wear high heeled pumps--I might attract partners who care more about fashion than common sense.

My father's a home inspector--did a lot of work down in New Orleans during Katrina and tried to do his best to help people keep or clean their homes--and let me tell you, I don't know of any inspector worth his or her salt that wouldn't have been able to find this problem--there's no way it was just one room. Mold spreads; it was in the entire house and someone didn't pick up on it or decided not to care.

That's the despicable part; there's no way that someone with a home inspector is THAT incompetent...but there is a very real possibility that they decided to sell the house and just pay off the inspectors somehow. Not PROBABLE, but possible.

If something isn't your cup of tea (like Warren Ellis--who is like really strong black tea with no sugar in the cup), don't pick up the teapot.

Some people hate Warren Ellis. Some (like me) enjoy occasionally giving into our biting cynicism, and then we really like Mr. Ellis. Fact is, some people flock to things they hate just to moan.

And #19: We know fetish subculture cannot be attributed to an entire nation--just like any stereotype or subculture. It's just that Japan is so repressed in every single way, that their subculture is the only fascinating part of an otherwise very, very straight-laced culture. At least, they WANT everyone to think they have no crimes or kinky sex (though kinky sex is HARDLY a crime).

Japan just has a flare for the odd that just isn't congruent with the way they wish to be seen--they should EMBRACE their subculture and just have some good ol' maverick spirit...though I admit no mainstream culture is weird enough for me--the US, too, is frankly pretty boring and normal on its surface.

And ANYTHING can be said for humor's sake--it's harmless fun. If someone's too stupid to differentiate between humor and reality, they should get off my internets!